United States President Donald Trump on Friday addressed controversies surrounding former U.S. President Barack Obama’s Russiagate allegations.
The U.S. President declared that pursuing legal action against Obama was not feasible.
Speaking from the Oval Office in Washington, U.S. on July 25, 2025, Trump cited a recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity as a key barrier.
He declared that, although declassified documents revealed details of Obama’s Russiagate allegations, his administration cannot persecute the former president.
“It probably helps him a lot. Probably helps a lot. The immunity ruling doesn’t help the people around him at all. But it probably helps him a lot,” Trump said Friday.
“He’s done criminal acts, there’s no question about it. But he has immunity, and it probably helps him a lot… he owes me big, Obama owes me big.”
This comes after Trump on Tuesday claimed that Obama was the “ringleader” of Russiagate, calling for him to be criminally investigated amid new claims that members of his administration allegedly “manufactured” intelligence that prompted the Trump–Russia collusion narrative.
Trump’s remarks follow a series of disclosures by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who declassified documents alleging that Obama and his national security team, including former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey, “manufactured” intelligence to undermine Trump’s 2016 victory.
Gabbard has referred these documents to the Justice Department, claiming they reveal a “treasonous conspiracy” to delegitimize Trump’s presidency.
However, in a statement Tuesday, Obama denied Trump’s “bizarre allegations” that he was the Russiagate “ringleader.”
“Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,” Obama spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said in a statement.
“These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,” Obama’s spokesman continued. “Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes.”
